


Faint

by PhelfromGrace



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Force Bond (Star Wars), Future Fic, Jedi Rey, Light Angst, Senator Rey, Sexual Content, Smuggler Ben Solo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-09
Updated: 2018-02-09
Packaged: 2019-03-15 22:33:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13622874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhelfromGrace/pseuds/PhelfromGrace
Summary: The Force works in mysterious ways.  When Jedi/Senator Rey makes a reckless decision on her diplomatic mission across the galaxy, she encounters a certain someone who has become a smuggler.Canon setting, but set in the future many years after the war. Written for the More Than Love: RFFA Valentine's Exchange 2018, for lovelydarkanddeep who requested a smutty Smuggler Ben and Senator/Jedi Rey fic.





	Faint

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lovelydarkanddeep](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovelydarkanddeep/gifts).



I. 

Rey cursed loudly at each consecutive slam of different buttons that yielded the same result: failure. She closed her eyes and tried to compose her mind, ignoring the rumbling walls of the cockpit that alarmingly got stronger at every deep breath she took. 

This was all her fault. They told her not to go alone, but she had specifically defied them, fed up of the drone of the senate and hungry for some adventure. Maybe it was reckless and against protocol to test-pilot a new starfighter on a diplomatic mission, and maybe it was a little foolish to take said starfighter across the galaxy, from Coruscant to Bakura, via a shortcut route well away from any of the established hyperlanes. She barely made it past half of the journey before the ship began to malfunction.

Impulse, hubris, destiny. There was no point of pinpointing the blame because she needed to concentrate on her survival.

A deafening bang pierced her eardrums, followed by the distinct sound of angry electric sparks from a fuse that likely blew in the back. By the grace of her training over the last decade, she remained perfectly calm while she imputed commands into the control panel. Her eye twitched upon realisation of the nearest planet for her emergency escape, but there was no other choice. She directed the course, activated the escape pod function, and braced herself for the rough ride. 

The ship broke into the atmosphere, its outer shell shedding metal pieces like flaking skin, and the small cockpit converted into an escape pod that detached from the dying wings and body. She was propelled to safety as the remainder exploded into the night sky. 

It took immense concentration to overcome the pressure of the small pod. Instead of clearing her mind to a blank state, she always found it easier to focus on love. She pictured their smiles. Her friends, students, colleagues, so many people she grew to love over the years. There was also that missing piece, that person she could never forget, whose smile she had only witnessed a handful of times. He had sacrificed himself to save her, to end the war. He died a hero, history treated him well, he became an epic verse in the Skywalker legend, but Rey did not believe that he was truly gone. She never felt that disappearance in the Force like when Luke had passed, or with Leia. How she wished Leia was still alive to confirm her feeling. 

Compared to the vastness of space, the metal pod travelling at gut-wrenching speed was nothing but a pinprick of light, a grain of sand, imperceptible to her friends back at home on Chandrila, that beautiful planet full of grassy plains, water and life, the scent of rain…

Rey lost consciousness as she crash-landed onto the barren desert lands of Jakku.

 

**  
II.

The seal of the battered metal door cracked open with a smoking hiss, and Rey stumbled out of the coffin-like container, feeling as if she had just escaped death. A familiar sandy wind immediately hit her skin while she looked up into the cool starry night sky.

She burst into laughter, a roaring hollow sound that travelled across the seemingly infinite desert expanse. Her convulsing abs gradually subsided and the fit of laughter transformed into a drawn-out cry; tears rolling down her cheeks, she fell to her knees and sobbed. She was stranded, lightyears away from the place she called home, back to her hellish birthplace. What a sick twist of fate— what was the Force trying to show her? Maybe this was where she belonged.

Not giving into despair, she quickly regained her bearings and patted herself down to check for any injuries. No cuts or scratches, and even her clothes, a clean set of grey Jedi robes, remained completely intact.

A clear map of the stars twinkled against the dark backdrop like little beacons of hope. The good news was that she knew exactly where she was. The bad, she was very far from Niima Outpost which was the only place on this forsaken planet where she could get a signal out. Rey therefore headed in the direction of Tuanal, a settlement by the Church of the Force that had managed to rebuild and recruit despite the tragic massacre of most of its inhabitants at the hands of the First Order. The town would surely provide her with supplies for her journey to Niima. 

The walk felt like eternity. Into the black void, with only the sound of sand and the occasional rustle of a pole-snake or skittermouse in the distance, the stars kept her company, along with the hilt of her saber that bounced lightly against her hip, and the Force, her only friend.

Until finally, a speck of light in the horizon appeared.

Sighing in relief, she broke into a sprint towards the source that grew as she approached. Small huts soon came into view, and she slowed her pace to catch her breath. Suddenly, a thundering noise of a starship’s engine roared above. She looked up and watched a Ghtroc 690 start its descent towards the settlement. It landed at a safe distance just along the outskirts.

She ran towards the ship, but then ducked behind some large boulders when the exit ramp opened up to reveal a tall man whose face was obscured by a hood. A couple of villagers came to greet him. She could not hear their conversation as they entered the ship. 

Rey’s anger began to bubble. A light freighter going to a small village on a backwater planet usually only meant one thing: smuggling. Somehow this sweet-talking bastard managed to convince these poor people to partake in illicit activity. The party re-emerged with large crates and she officially lost her composure. With their backs turned, she recklessly rushed on board. 

There was a part of her that wanted to steal the ship: it would teach the asshole a lesson, and she would be able to escape Jakku. Something else seemed to call for her, so she ignored the cockpit and headed for the cargo instead. Spice, arms, illegal parts, she would base her punishment on the severity of his smuggling goods. Disengaging the lock mechanism of the crate, all ready to judge and potentially justify stealing his ship, she was instead left staring at its contents, perplexed.

The puzzling sight only lasted for a brief moment because her vision was then engulfed in a bright blue light.

For the second time in one night, Rey lost consciousness as her body seized and fell to the cold hard floor. 

 

**  
III.

Her eyes slowly opened to a familiar metal ceiling, an image that had greeted her throughout her early life and that still occasionally crept in her dreams. She had somehow returned to her AT-AT home, but a few things felt out of place, such as the support beneath her back that seemed sturdier and so unlike the unsteady hammock she had weaved as a child. 

And more notably, her ears picked up a subtle noise that did not come from sandy wind or the creatures of Jakku. She was not alone. 

Instinctively, she blasted the intruder with the Force. His tall frame flew back, body crashing into the makeshift stove across the room, metal pots fell to the ground, and the hood hiding the man’s face slid back. In the shadows, his features remained obscured, but as he confidently stood up and took a few steps forward, the light slipping in from the circular hatch illuminated his face. 

Dark hair, with waves swooped back revealing large ears that framed a striking face. Those distinct pouty lips, that prominent nose, and a complexion that has seen some age and sun while still retaining youth, particularly from his strong, expressive gaze. She did not even need to notice the faint scar across the right side of his face to recognise this man. 

“I’ve officially gone mad,” she whispered to herself, staring intensely at his dark glistening eyes. “Back in my dreaded home on Jakku, seeing the man who has haunted me for nearly a decade. This is a dream.” Their eye contact momentarily broke as she diverted her attention to the light coming from the entrance, strong rays well past morning. “A daydream,” she corrected, then her voice hardened. “A nightmare.” 

Hand outstretched, Rey jumped out of the bed and shot him again with a blast of the Force. The power she yielded was too real; it could not be a figment of her imagination. “Who are you?” she shouted at the body lying once again in the shadows.

He did not respond immediately, and she readied her stance for another round. Her arm however fell limply to her side when he parted those lips to finally speak. 

“To the locals and to my clients, I am the smuggler Mat.” He slowly got up, calmly looking back at the distraught girl. “But to you, I will always be Ben Solo.”

“Liar!” 

He closed their physical distance, one long stride at a time, and she did not blast him away despite her open hostility. 

“You’re an imposter,” she said, not meeting his gaze that now towered over her. “I can’t sense it, I don’t feel it. You don’t feel like him.”

Ben took her hand, gently. The rough pad of his thumb made circles in her palm, until she finally looked up. He kept brief eye contact, then pulled her into a hug. Strong arms enveloping her slender frame, ear pressed against his broad hard chest, against his beating heart, Rey began to let down her guard and completely relax, which caused tears to well and stream down her face. 

“I don’t?” he softly inquired, the deep timbre of his voice reverberating into her bones. “What does he feel like?” 

She knew that he was feigning ignorance, but she decided to play along. He detached from their embrace to face her, to wipe away her tears, to hold her chin. He brought her lips to his, and kissed her tenderly, attentively, just like the memories of a distant past. “Did he feel like that?” he whispered, after they broke away to catch their breath.

“He did,” she conceded. “But you still don’t feel like him.”

“I wonder what else must I do…” His hand on the small of her back played with the fabric of her tunic, then tugged at her leather belt. He found the buckle, unsnapped it, and proceeded to peel away the layers of fabric that hid her beautiful sun-tanned freckled skin.

“You’re paler,” he commented, surveying every inch of her bare body, leaving a kiss here and there. “They should let you out more often.” He guided her to the bed, sprawling her legs to gain access to her smooth inner thigh that he had always loved to caress. “You’ve always been pale here.”

“Shut up.”

He smirked and obeyed her command by nestling between her legs. Tongue flicking against her clit, her mind blanked at the very human pleasure that had been missing in her life. Just like his attentive kiss, he paid careful attention to her sensitive folds, stimulating her until she was absolutely soaking and ready for more. 

He stepped back for some air and began to undress. She savoured the slow reveal of his chiseled torso; the hooded vest and black shirt were first to go, followed by the belt that was expertly unbuckled with dexterous fingers she wanted inside of her. All that pure muscle, the tantalizing flexed forearms that caged her as she laid back, while he hovered above and waited for her consent, like the pure Ben Solo that he was. But despite all the familiarity, all those signs that pointed to his authenticity, there was still that missing something. As much as she would have loved to indulge and lose herself in him like she had dreamed throughout those long years since his supposed death, that empty feeling deep inside overcame her lust.

“Why can’t I feel it, the Force, why does it feel like there’s a wall blocking my path?”

He immediately backed off, body stiffening like a cold front had chilled his core. “It’s better this way.”

“No, it’s not!” she cried, and the walls of the AT-AT began to shake. “You don’t understand what I’ve been through all these years. That no matter how many lives I save, or laws that I pass, or how many people I meet, and grow to love. It’s never enough!” 

“Rey, calm down.”

“You think it’s _easy_ inheriting the responsibilities of both the Jedi academy and the senate?! That I’m happy being the strongest force user in the galaxy? No one understands. There’s this void inside of me, and it aches— I want it gone. Why can't it go away. Make it go away...

“I’ve been so alone.”

“REY!”

She had no idea what had just transpired. One moment, she was swirling in her own thoughts and free falling; the next, she was back in the light, embraced tightly by his quivering body, as if he had just saved her from a collapsing building. They were both panting, hearts frantically beating in tandem. And finally, she felt it. 

Hazel eyes opened wide, looking at him in awe. “Ben?”

“You do realise this will disturb the balance, and possibly destroy the peace of the last few years.”

She shook her head. “Don’t ever close yourself off again.”

Shifting position to hold her hand, the bond surged between fingertips and she witnessed what he had been through. At the brink of death and willing to die, the Force had kept him alive. He managed to close himself off, in his shame for having survived after all the hurt he had inflicted upon the galaxy, and maybe to honour his father's memory. She watched his struggles over the years, as a mere man, a poor nobody that now stole food rations from the wealthy and delivered them to villagers in need, to repent for the sins of his past. He often came back to visit her Jakku home, not that it would ever sate his longing; his journey was so lonely, like the story of his life. 

She pulled him into a deep kiss. 

Instead of his cautious behaviour, he moved into her with confidence and she accepted him, fully. They had been each other’s first and once believed that it would be their last. Back then, they were like awkward teenagers despite the bond that allowed them to connect both mentally and physically. Now, he knew exactly where to touch her because she better understood where she wanted to be touched, for how long, and how deep. She knew him just as well, that he enjoyed having his hair pulled, that he had weirdly sensitive earlobes, that he loved hearing her moan in pleasure...

This was definitely where she belonged.

Hips rocked like a well-oiled machine, but the engine eventually ran out of fuel as their arousal hit its peak. Gripping onto locks of black hair, her back arched while he came into her. She climaxed, screaming his name.

Absolutely depleted, their bodies remained intertwined. 

And for the third time on this fateful trip to Jakku, Rey passed out as she cuddled in the strong arms of her beloved Ben Solo.


End file.
